English grammar

1. Learning Goal
Students will be able to write,
use and properly punctuate the
four basic sentence structures.
Learning the four sentence structures
will help us to become better writers
by showing us how to use varying
sentence lengths.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b84H3Hnr5N8&t=5s

2. Four Basic Sentence Structures
• Simple (s)
• Compound (c)
• Complex (cx)
• Compound-Complex (ccx)
Let’s watch a little video that introduces 3 of these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98OcAe5O0Ws

3. Basic Elements of Every Sentence
SUBJECT PREDICATE

4. Basic Elements
Mary plays tennis.
SUBJECT PREDICATE

5. Simple Sentence

6. Simple Sentence
• A simple sentence has one subject and one
predicate.

7. Simple Sentence
We went to San Juan yesterday.
Observe how a simple sentence is constructed:

8. Simple Sentence
We went to San Juan .
Pronoun Verb
Simple subject Complete predicate
Prepositional phrase

9. SIMPLE SENTENCE
Mary plays tennis.
SUBJECT PREDICATE
one subject one predicate

10. Simple Sentence
play tennis.
Tom and Mary
Compound Subject
&

11. Simple Sentence
play tennis and swim.
Tom and Mary
Compound Subject Compound Predicate
& &

12. SIMPLE SENTENCE
with compound subject
Tom and Mary play tennis.

13. SIMPLE SENTENCE
with compound subject
and
compound predicate
Tom and Mary play tennis and
swim.

14. Compound Sentence

15. Compound Sentence
• A compound sentence has more than one
part that can stand alone (independent
clauses).
• Independent clauses are connected by
coordinating conjunctions, conjunctive
adverbs or a semi-colon.

16. Compound Sentence
Use of Coordinating Conjunctions
SUBJECT PREDICATE
SUBJECT PREDICATE

17. COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
FOR
AND
NOR
BUT
OR
YET
SO

18. Compound Sentence
We went to San Juan, and
most of us danced all night.

19. Compound Sentence
We went to San Juan,
and most of us danced all night .
Subject Verb
Coordinating
Conjunction
Predicate
Verb
Prepositional phrase
Modifying phrase
Subject

20. Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Independent Independent
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

21. Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.
Comma before “and”
in compound
sentences!
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

22. COMPOUND SENTENCE:
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
MOREOVER
HOWEVER
OTHERWISE
THEREFORE

23. Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Independent Independent
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS

24. Note: Semicolon
before conjunctive
adverb and comma
after conjunctive adverb!
Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.
COMPOUND SENTENCE:
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS

25. COMPOUND SENTENCE
Semicolons
• “If the relation between the ideas
expressed in the main clauses is very
close and obvious without a
conjunction, you can separate the
clauses with a semicolon” (Little, Brown
Handbook, 9th Edition, p. 361).

26. COMPOUND SENTENCE:
SEMICOLON
Tom has benefited from his exercise
program; he is slim and energetic.

27. Here’s a little flocabulary about
simple and compound sentences
https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/simple-compound-
sentences/

28. Complex Sentence

29. Complex Sentence
• A complex sentence has at least two
parts: one that can stand alone and
another one that cannot
• The part that cannot stand alone is linked
to the rest of the sentence by a
subordinating conjunction

30. COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
The most common subordinating
conjunctions are "after," "although,"
"as," "because," "before," "how,"
"if," "once," "since," "than,"
"that," though," "till," "until,"
"when," "where," "whether,” and
while."

31. Complex Sentence
Since we wanted to have fun,
we went to San Juan yesterday.

32. Complex Sentence
Since we wanted to have fun,
we went to San Juan yesterday.
Predicate
Subject
Subordinating
Conjunction
Part that cannot stand alone

33. Bob is popular even though he is ugly.
Clause 1 Clause
2
Independent Dependent
COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

34. Even though Bob is ugly, he is popular.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Dependent Independent
COMPLEX SENTENCE:
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

35. How about a little more
flocabulary? This time about
complex sentences
https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/complex-sentences/

36. Compound-Complex Sentence

37. • This type of sentence has more than one
part that can stand alone, and at least one
that cannot.
• Conjunctions link the different parts of this
sentence.
Compound-Complex Sentence

38. Compound-Complex Sentence
Since we wanted to have fun,
my boyfriend and I went to San Juan yesterday,
and we danced all night.

39. Since we wanted to have fun,
my boyfriend and I went to San Juan,
and we danced all night.
Subject Predicate
Subordinating
Conjunction
Coordinating
Conjunction
Part that cannot stand alone
Compound-Complex Sentence

40. Can you answer these basic
questions about sentences and
the four basic structures?

41. What are the two basic elements
of any sentence?
The subject and predicate

42. Sentences are made up of what
types of clauses?
Independent and Subordinate

43. Which sentence structure
contains 2 or more independent
clauses?
Compound

44. Which clause must every
sentence structure contain?
Independent

45. Which structure contains one
independent and one dependent
clause?
Complex

46. Which structure contains at least
2 independent clauses and one
subordinate clause?
Compound-complex

47. What type of conjunction do I
use in a compound sentence?
Coordinating Conjunction
Or FANBOY

48. What type of conjunction will be
found in a complex sentence?
Subordinate Conjunction

49. What type of conjunction is used
in a compound-complex
sentence?
It should have both!

50. Name the sentence structure
After the rain stopped, Lisa went
for a long run.
Complex

51. Name the sentence structure
Lisa wants to go to the concert,
but she doesn’t have enough
money for a ticket.
Compound

52. Name the sentence structure
Lisa and Tom love to swim in the
ocean.
Simple

53. Name the sentence structure
Whenever we go on vacation,
our neighbors mow our lawn,
and they collect our mail.
Compound - Complex